


those things beyond us

by Civillain



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Implied Reincarnation, i wanted to be subtle but there's no subtlety, you can take off the implied or leave it it's actually really obvious i'm just
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23938312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Civillain/pseuds/Civillain
Summary: There's something different about Luffy on nights like this, nights where there's soft rain and half-moons, and when the streets are quiet; no cars or trucks, only midnight joggers or early risers taking walks to the beach.(Where Luffy and his friends have a relationship Sabo doesn't think he'll ever be able to understand.)
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo
Comments: 16
Kudos: 203





	those things beyond us

It's four in the morning, and Luffy slips his way past the door and into Sabo's room, the lines of his silhouette only barely visible in the dark.

"Luffy," Sabo says; and it's a quiet whisper, quieter than even the rain pattering outside, but Luffy still jumps, eyes wide and glinting when he looks up. He looks like a deer caught in headlights, frozen stiff where he stands, a hand still on the doorknob and the other squeezed tight against the wall.  
Sabo stifles a laugh, any irritation from being woken up long faded away, and he says, "Luffy, what's up?"

It's almost a look of relief, what flashes across Luffy's face, though it's gone in a moment and then only anxious impatience in its place. He cups both hands against his mouth and whisper-shouts, "I wanna talk."

Without even getting agreement (he doesn't need it anyway) he edges the door shut. But right before all the stripes of light from the hallway wane away, Sabo shakes his head and does a 'come hither' motion with his fingers.

"You can barely see as it is, Luff," he huffs, reaching out to tug at Luffy's arm when he gets close, "I don't need you to trip and fall and break your nose."

His brother blinks at him and scrunches his eyes up into a squint, making a show of looking around. "I can see just fine, y'know. Look! Over there's your closet, and over there's the stuff that you use to clean your goggles when they get all gross and dirty, next to the window's your collection of top hats- the ones you said were useless because they weren't the right ones- and then next to that is that picture of you and Ace when you were missing three teeth--"

"Okay, okay!" Sabo yields, and he actually does laugh this time, a chuckle that's just short of being too loud. "You can see, I get it."  
Luffy does a weird half-smug half-pleased smile, self-congratulatory, and Sabo recognizes that look all too well, even in the dark.

"Yeah, yeah." he teases, shoving Luffy's shoulder lightly, "You n' Ace can see in the dark real easy and I can't, laugh it up all you want, stupid. Doesn't change the fact that you break everything in sight just by walking into them, in broad daylight."

"Shaddup." Luffy grumbles. His smugness twists into a scowl, and a quick laugh splits out of Sabo again, the sound definitely too loud for four AM.  
But that's alright.

He doesn't bother making room for Luffy on the bed when Luffy reaches him, because Luffy goes ahead and sprawls himself wherever--wherever is unfortunately on Sabo's stomach, and so an 'oomph' sweeps out of him when Luffy drops all his weight down at once.

"You look so scrawny but you weigh like a ton." Sabo groans. He wriggles around in his blankets to try and get comfortable, but it's impossible when Luffy latches onto his waist like he's trying to keep a fish from jumping back into water.

"Stop squiggling!" Luffy demands, and Sabo almost chokes on his spit because he's squiggling now? But he complies, like he usually does when it comes to his brother, and Luffy deflates and relaxes down, rolling himself across Sabo's legs. "This is nicer, isn't it?" Luffy remarks, and it sounds like he's just commenting- but Sabo knows better.

"It's nicer," he sighs, sinking back down into his pillow. "Much better, ugh. If you're going to lie on me, maybe don't make a running jump? And don't aim for my stomach."  
"Sabo's stomach is the best place to land." Luffy tells him wisely. He dissolves into giggles after Sabo kicks him lightly in the chest.

The rain dwindles gently, though droplets still cling onto the windowsill, catching the light as they trickle down stained glass. He watches his window slowly get cleaned, watches the reflection of a half-moon waver against rainwater, and watches another reflection of the half-moon calm in his brother's eyes.

"Weren't you gonna talk?" he asks.

There's something different about Luffy on nights like this, nights where there's soft rain and half-moons, and when the streets are quiet; no cars or trucks, only midnight joggers or early risers taking walks to the beach.

He cards a hand through dark hair, and Luffy hums against the blankets, nodding his head tiredly.

"Yeah, Sabo..." Luffy murmurs, drowsy and sleepy, and there's obvious fatigue when he sags even further down into the bed, arms going slack by his side.  
"We can talk tomorrow if you want," Sabo offers, because Luffy's tired and if he's finally going to sleep, that counts as a victory in itself.

But then those words seem like a trigger, a gun pulled where it shouldn't have been, and something panicked flits across Luffy's face before he pushes himself up and cries, "No!"

"I-I wanna talk now." Luffy says. He's clearly still exhausted, but there's a new alertness in the way he sits up, back ramrod straight against the bed frame. "I gotta talk now," he repeats, and his voice is so resolute that--

Oh, Sabo thinks.

Gently, and he speaks gently even though he's never ever needed to be gentle with Luffy, he says, "Did you want to talk about Ace?"

When Luffy's face crumples, he knows he's hit the bullseye.

"Luffy," Sabo whispers, reaching out to tug him back by his side, "He's fine. He's fine, Luffy, he got to the hospital in time and the doctors told us he's stable, didn't they? He's going to be okay, Luffy."

Right.

It's him and Ace and Luffy, and they live in the apartment alone. There's no reason to stay quiet, is there? Ace is in the hospital, lying half-dead on a quiet hospital bed, but also not, because he danced the line between death and life and made it past both already.

Miracle, the doctors called it, and Sabo had never been so grateful for the word as he was then.

Luffy had waited by the doors the entire time, too anxious to even sit. White-faced, pale, shaking, he steepled his fingers against cracked glass and stared in at the wall of surgeons hiding his brother from view, muttered curses and pleas and even reared back to punch the door in at one point- Sabo had restrained him just in time, but he himself could never forget the _face _Luffy had made-__

___-What did you see, Luffy? How did you know?_

Sabo wants to ask. He really does.

But that isn't what Luffy needs right now.

"It was you, y'know?"

Luffy's eyelids were dropping before, but they aren't anymore. Instead, his eyes are forced wide, dark and worried in a way they never should be. But- he still looks up at Sabo in the same way he always has, with affection and fondness and a strange pride that's been there since the day they met, when Luffy-three years younger than him and 4 inches shorter- reached a hand out to a ragged runaway scouring the trash.

I've found you, he had said that day.

"It was you," Sabo continues, threading his fingers through his brother's hair, "You were there, Luff. He was trapped, I heard, and they shot him and he almost-" He feels his throat bob, and wills the burning in his eyes to go away. It doesn't.

"-almost died. He was almost dead, but he isn't. Because of you."

Luffy says nothing.  
Somehow, that hurts more than the quietness of hospital rooms, the stillness of pale bed-sheets.

Swallowing, Sabo tucks his arm around his brother's shoulder and pulls him closer still, his own heartbeat thrumming numbly cold in his chest.

"It's-'cos of you, he's okay now. Luffy, you saved his life." His voice cracks on the last word, but he ignores it and pushes on, curling his toes beneath the blankets. "You found him, got him to safety- they told me that you carried him to the emergency center all by yourself? If it weren't for you- Luffy, I- "

His makeshift strength peters out, and Sabo buries his chin in Luffy's unkempt hair, squeezing his eyes shut as tight as he can.  
Luffy doesn't need to hear this right now.

"It's not that, Sabo. It's Blackbeard."

Sabo opens his eyes.

Luffy's fists clench in his lap, balled up and quivering, white knuckles bright against purpled skin. His right hand is bruised.

"Blackbeard," Luffy says again, except now it sounds more like a snarl, solid hatred blended with terrible grief, a name spit out with more spite than Sabo could ever have imagined Luffy could muster.

"That's number four, now. Once at Jaya, once in Impel Down, again and again-! And now I've found him, and he shoots Ace! The bastard's gonna die the next time I see him- " the last of it gets bitten off, and the words send a cold thrill straight down Sabo's spine.

Jaya? Impel Down?

Impel Down's the world-famous prison, located far-off in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by nothing but certain death.

Jaya's the ruined island, rumors of it being the so-called second Atlantis have always circulated- and it's also miles away, not even on the same continent. And Blackbeard? Luffy's met him before?

A famed petty burglar-turned murderer.

Marshall D. Teach, wanted on all counts by the police force.

No, Sabo thinks, ears thudding, heart racing- No.  
Luffy's fine. There's no signs of concussions, no signs of hysteria or hallucinations. He was checked out by the nurses, and they gave him papers, too- they told him that Luffy was completely unscathed-

"...you're always getting amneesi, Sabo. It's not really fair, ya'know?" Luffy's staring him down again, wide brown eyes locking onto his. He doesn't dare blink.  
"Hah?" Sabo croaks, still light-headed from worry, "What do you mean?"

"Amnee- amneasia- the memory thing...amnesia! Yeah, that's it! And now even Ace's got it. You guys are so weird nowadays!" Luffy chortles, crisping the hems of his shorts with his fingers. He looks like he's about to say something more, maybe blurt something stupid to lighten the mood- but he doesn't. His mouth twists into a semi-smile, soft at the edges in a way Luffy himself has never been.

A moment passes, and neither of them move. Sabo doesn't hold his breath; but it feels like the air's already been knocked right out of his lungs- maybe it's all gone into his head. He draws in a shaky gasp, lets his dry throat get even dryer, and then holds it.  
"Sabo." Luffy murmurs.

He heaves a heavy sigh, blowing air into Sabo's shoulder, and then rolls down and over onto his back, an arm on Sabo's knee and the other stretched out towards the window.

"I promised- I promise you guys, I'm going to get Blackbeard, okay?"

That rage from earlier is gone, and in its place is a sad sort of surety.

Sabo thinks he might've preferred the rage.

Luffy doesn't look back at him, because he's staring outside, watching something Sabo knows only he'll ever be able to see. The moon is bright, cut in half by murky darkness, and there're no stars in the sky. Sabo can't find it in himself to say anything but "yeah."

"I know Ace is gonna be fine," Luffy laughs. His fingers twist and trace the fog on dark glass. Absently, Sabo notes the slow curl of his thumbs, like he's grabbing for something that isn't there. "Of course he's gonna be okay! He's Ace! He's our brother! Even though you and him don't remember anything."

"But..." Those fingers tighten into a fist once again. Luffy's palm whitens where his fingers dig in, and when he lets loose, his skin turns dark with the beginnings of bruising. "...Blackbeard's gonna pay."

"He's gonna pay," Sabo repeats. His tongue feels numb.

On nights like this, half-moons and soft rain and clear skies- Sabo can live off Luffy's words, feel like there isn't something lost in him, feel like he's right where he should be. He can ignore the shivers that throb through the scar on his forehead, ignore that strange, beautiful, draw of fire, ignore his fears and frustrations, ignore all the terrible fretting about Ace.

(But not really. These are the things that never truly go away.)

"We're gonna visit Ace tomorrow, right?"  
Luffy's turned back to face him, eyes bright in the dark.

Sabo sucks in another breath, coughs into his hand and smiles. "Duh," he promises. "And we'll get there as soon as it's socially acceptable to, okay?"  
"As soon as it's socially acceptable to," Luffy mutters. "Like we'd care about that. Right now, Sabo, how 'bout right now?"

"We have visiting hours, Luffy. They keep threatening to kick us out."

There's a beat of silence. The look on Luffy's face grows darker, and darker, and then, "Stupid doctors." Luffy grumbles. "I was gonna break in, but you stopped me."  
"Y-you say that like that's my fault! Did you want to be arrested?"

"I could've beat all of'em up!" Luffy insists, like such a terrible thing is the natural thing to do. And maybe it is, for him, a bizarre boy who's always been a mystery.  
(Sabo still isn't sure who he is, really.)

But still.  
"No way, you little gremlin."

He laughs when Luffy bristles angrily, tugging at Sabo's hair weakly as a form of petty revenge.

"Yes I can! I'm strong!" Luffy chants in his ears, over and over again, until Sabo thinks he might go deaf. Or dead.  
From ruptured eardrums.

_No, you aren't, _he's about to teasingly jab back, but a loud bump sounds through the house-then another- and Luffy goes still.  
Sabo tenses too, before scrambling for the window, weaving around Luffy to grab at the curtains. He presses his face against cold glass, resisting the urge to flinch back from the pressure on his eyelids.__

__But once the fog on the window clears, he scans the yard. Nothing._ _

__There're no cars, no trucks, no people outside. The streets are silent, dark, save for the flickering of battery-dead street lights._ _

__Those lights are activated by movement._ _

__"Luffy," he hisses, wrenching the curtains closed, "There's someone around here." There were footprints in the grass. Indented into the dirt, way too hard to cover up on short notice. Someone's sneaking around._ _

__A burglar? A thief? A murderer? Teach?_ _

__"The police, Luffy, get a phone--?!"_ _

__

__Usopp stands at the doorway, rubbing his upper arm sheepishly._ _

__"Ah, hey..." he chuckles, with an awkward little wave. He drops the wave when Sabo doesn't wave back, lets one hand hang by his side and covers his eyes with the other._ _

__"What the shit," Sabo says._ _

__Usopp doesn't flinch, but he pulls a face that makes it clear he would very much not like to be where he is. "I..." he begins, raising a finger to shush Luffy, who had gotten up into a pouncing position, "-am so sorry." He stands there for another two seconds, gaze averted, and then gets bowled over by a giant man with blue hair._ _

__"Franky." Sabo greets. He tries-and fails- to pull his lips into a polite smile, averting his gaze from the man's shirtless chest._ _

__"LUFFY." Franky bellows._ _

__Franky's a strange case. Usopp, Sabo can understand. He's in the same age-group as Luffy, has the same interests- they take daily walks to the beach together, after all- but Franky?  
He's twice as old as Luffy- twice as big._ _

__"Franky!" Luffy laughs back, and rams right into him, drawing a sympathetic wince from Usopp when something very obviously...cracks._ _

__Sabo would be sympathetic too, if these people hadn't broken into his house at four in the morning._ _

__

__"Why?" he demands._ _

__Robin chuckles daintily into her hand, then gifts him a warm smile, her dark hair flowing out and around her shoulders- but Sabo can see that glint in her eyes- oh, Robin's a menace._ _

__"We thought it'd be nice to pay you a little visit." she says._ _

__Sabo hears Usopp scream from the room next to them, and Franky frantically hollering. Luffy's a real menace, too. Bad influences, the both of them._ _

__"But why now? I would be sleeping by now, you know? And how did you even get in?"_ _

__Nami perks up, obviously sensing her time to shine. Jingling lock picks hooked onto a golden key-ring, she dangles them in front of his face and grins, mischievous and wide. "Got in through the window." she snickers._ _

__Her, too. Luffy's friends- crazy as hell._ _

__"Our windows-" Sabo takes a deep, steadying, breath, sleep deprivation choosing now of all times to catch up to him, "-don't have locks. Or latches. They literally can't open. They are glass panes, screwed to the wall, and they were built in like that."_ _

__He tuts at her before she can say another word. "-AND the glass is reinforced. There's no way you broke it- I checked all the windows, and they're all intact."_ _

__"Well, you're right about that. They are all intact. Wouldn't want to have to pay a fine." She flicks a lock of hair over her shoulder and cheekily raps her knuckles against the wall. At the incredulous look he shoots her, she crosses her arms, tilts her head back and smirks smugly, flexing her fingers against her forearms. "Doesn't mean it wasn't easy to get in here, though."_ _

__"You didn't come through a window. I bet Luffy just gave you a spare key or something, even though I told him not to...if he did, you're going to have to hand that over, no way I'm letting you guys come in whenever you want, Luffy's friends or not..."_ _

__By the time he looks up again, Nami is gone and only Robin is there, wearing the closest thing to a shit-eating smile Sabo will ever see on her face._ _

__"Oh dear, Sabo. Nami's gone out the window." she says._ _

__=_ _

__It's not even near five in the morning, and Sabo is forced outside his own house._ _

__"Why does this have to happen to me?" he bemoans. His sympathetic audience shows him no sympathy. Starts singing, instead._ _

__"Brook!" Usopp hisses. "Make that quieter! They have neighbors!"_ _

__Brook- an old man, for fuck's sake, Luffy's friends are so weird- yohoho's and sets his violin down. "My bad! Though some music would be good, especially in a mood like this one! Cheer up! We're going to go visit Mr. Luffy's brother in the hospital!"_ _

__Mr. Luffy? Ignoring the weird honorific, Sabo grumbles into his palms and mutters something like "no."_ _

__It's been a week and a half since Ace was hospitalized._ _

__He really shouldn't be so surprised at something like this: these people break into his house to kidnap Luffy every other day anyways. Just usually not so late at night, and not so criminal-like, either.  
(And they usually at least have the dignity to use the door.) But this? Four AM is a hair's breadth from crossing the line._ _

__"We're going to walk there." Sanji says. He's smoking again, cigarette dangling from his lips, smoke wafting up and drifting about. It's white in the air, in the dark, and Sabo snaps his arm back from unconsciously reaching out to touch it at the last moment._ _

__(Strange cravings, Ace called-calls them. I got them too.)_ _

__

__"You're underage, shithead."_ _

__And then there's Zoro._ _

__Sanji scowls, dragging the rolling paper even harder in his mouth. "You," he scoffs. "You of all people have no right to tell me that. Look at you, with your swords, you've had the police called on you how many times now?"_ _

__"Seventeen." Zoro shoots back dryly. "Seventeen times and counting. Assholes are all paranoid now, can't even keep them in my belt without getting some law guy sicced on me. 'Misdemeanor, weapon violation,'" he sneers. "Doesn't help that you're the one who reported me those last five times."_ _

__"Oh, but- mossheads are really suspicious, y'know? Can't be helped that all the ladies think you're some sort of punk."_ _

__"Like I give a shit about 'all the ladies.'" An instant of silence, and then: "Like any of them give a shit about you."_ _

__Sanji rears up on his heels, so far gone in his irritation that he's grinning, eyebrows twitching when he shoots Zoro the middle finger. He gets one back, pointed straight at his nose._ _

__(Sabo's worried that he's going to have to break up a kid's fight in the middle of the night in his yard, letting his neighbors get a clear view of him getting sliced and kicked around by a sword-wielding teenager and one in a suit, respectively.)_ _

__"ZORO!"_ _

__His savior turns out to be Luffy, bursting out the door like some demented Jack-in-the-box._ _

__"Zoro! Why'd you run off so fast?"_ _

__Zoro's lips twitch. It's a quiet movement, barely noticeable. "Maybe you're just slow." he ribs, his shoulders relaxing as he speaks. But Luffy shakes his head madly, 'til his face is just a blur of a mess underneath his wild hair._ _

__"No!" he denies fiercely. "Stupid! You just got lost in the house! I was the one who found you, you know, and then you just left!"_ _

__"I-! I wasn't lost!" Zoro snaps back.  
This is the closest to flustered Sabo will ever see Zoro. _ _

__"Let's get going. Chopper and Jinbe are waiting for us there already." Sanji says. His cigarette is put-out, pinched and crumbling under his black soled shoes. He had put it out the moment Luffy appeared, dropping it to the ground and grinding it down to trap the smoke._ _

__Luffy bounds over to him, spry and lively, eyes bright and glad. "So we're going to go see Ace right now?" he asks._ _

__("It's four in the morning." Sabo reminds them.)_ _

__Sanji glances down and ruffles Luffy's hair, the workings of a smile already on his lips. "Yeah," he says. "But we're going to take a quick detour, first."_ _

__

__It's the beach again._ _

__Nami and Robin are already there somehow, sitting by the curb with their toes in the water, hair waving in the breeze._ _

__"Luffy!" Nami exclaims._ _

__Luffy's face splits into a wide grin, his teeth lucent in the moonlight. "Nami! Robin!' he calls, waving so vigorously that his hand goes bleary in Sabo's eyes._ _

__He runs over to them, gracefully scrambling, not even tripping over pebbles or sinking into sand. He laughs, warm and sunny, and hooks an arm around both of his friends, tugging them together into a strange group hug that should be awkward, but isn't. It's always new, this Luffy, who just seems like a whole new person by the sea._ _

__"Where's your hat?" Nami asks. She tugs at his messy locks, smoothing them the best she can._ _

__He smiles at her, a strange, gentle smile. "I left it with Ace." he says._ _

__Sanji and Usopp aren't close behind, though Sanji has to keep Usopp on his feet, steadying him when he begins to stumble._ _

__"The beaches now are so weird!" Usopp gripes. "These rocks and stuff! Why are there so many!"_ _

__"It's one foot after another," Sanji says flatly, holding onto Usopp's shoulder. "You can do that, can't you?"_ _

__But then he accidentally lets go, and Usopp goes tumbling face-first into the sand.  
"S..sorry." Sanji mutters, a hand over his mouth. An odd giggle slips out anyways, and Usopp shoots him a dirty look._ _

__

__It takes them a while, but they're able to get themselves seated in the same place by the waters, huddled around the curb._ _

__"Looks just like the day we entered the New World." Robin murmurs, blue eyes glittering in the dark._ _

__Usopp twists his mouth, scrunches his face up and stares at the ocean intently. "I think we're missing a few things there, Robin. I don't see any lightning, or whales, or- I don't know, things from all sides trying to kill us."_ _

__Sabo has no idea what they're talking about, but he hears 'things trying to kill us' and startles. "Luffy wasn't in danger, was he?" he demands._ _

__There's a moment of silence, where everyone but Luffy gapes at him disbelievingly- even Zoro's eyebrows raise a little- but it gets cut short quick by Nami._ _

__She gives him a look, the best blend of deadpan and pitying he's ever seen, and says, "He's the reason we were there."_ _

__=_ _

__Luffy stays seated, even after everyone else has stood up._ _

__"Luffy, it's time to go! They'll let us in now."_ _

__He nods absently, gaze still fixed on the water, and reaches out to skim the ocean with his fingers._ _

__To Sabo's surprise, he gets yanked back by Zoro at the last moment, Zoro's eyes sharp with something almost like worry. But then that moment passes, and Zoro releases Luffy, stumbling back and looking surprised himself._ _

__"Ah." he says. "Sorry, cap'n. Reflex."_ _

__Luffy snickers from where he's sprawled out on the sand, sitting up and flicking pebbles off his shorts._ _

__"You're still fast as ever." he grins, accepting Zoro's hand up._ _

__"You should be, too."_ _

__He eyes Zoro's swords, and Zoro eyes Luffy's fists, and Sabo blankly wonders if this is some version of a weird courting ritual._ _

__"Come on already!" Usopp yells. He's already half-way across the street, running past stop signs and jaywalking. "The sun's gonna come up at the rate we're going! Faaaster!"_ _

__

__The walk to the hospital should be long, but it feels short._ _

__Usopp fills the air with chatter, weaving stories and telling jokes, and Luffy laughs at every single one of them, doubling over and leaning on Sabo's shoulder every time he runs his lungs dry._ _

__"Luffy, that really wasn't that funny." Sanji says, half-teasing. It's fond though, the way he says it, because amusement curls in his voice, kind and laughing.  
Usopp gasps, affronted. He whirls around to face Sanji, hands on his hips, and says, "You know what's funny? You! With your fancy suit and ladies and stuff! You're seventeen, Sanji, set a better example! What if Luffy turns out like you, huh? What about Chopper?"_ _

__"Attaboy," Zoro mutters under his breath._ _

__He's way too pleased, Sabo thinks._ _

__Sanji's eyes go wide, and he weaves around Sabo to block Usopp's path with an outstretched leg. "Hey." he says, lips stretched tight. "Repeat that, Usopp."_ _

__=_ _

__The hospital isn't quiet; there are sighs and screams and sobs all around them._ _

__Luffy keeps walking, fixed straight ahead and strides firm. Sabo knows he only has eyes for Ace's room._ _

__Zoro lags behind, taking slow steps, one eye squinted like he always has it._ _

__('Maximum three visitors at a time,' the receptionist told them, and so there was a strange, soundless decision done between Luffy's friends. They looked to Zoro, and Zoro looked at Luffy, and Luffy smiled at all of them, leaning back on his heels to be able to see everybody's faces.  
"You guys should come in afterwards, I bet he'll want to see you." he said. It was sweet, in a way Sabo didn't expect. It would make him think Luffy's known these people for more than his lifetime.)_ _

__

__Ace's room is more quiet than the others._ _

__"I'll wait outside." Zoro tells them both. Luffy tries to persuade him otherwise, but Zoro turns him down, nudging him towards the door. "Go ahead."_ _

__Sabo steadies himself, hand poised above the doorknob, draws in a shaky breath. Ace is in there, and he was about to die just a week ago._ _

__Ace, who was connected to tubes and operated on and wouldn't wake up, Ace, who was shot-_ _

__

__The door opens, and Sabo walks into Ace's face face-first, noses touching._ _

__"What the fuck." he says, when Ace falls to the floor._ _

__

__Ace blinks up at him, wrapped up in bandages and dripping tubes latched into his skin, hair oily and matted, but he's beaming, for whatever reason. And he extends his hands and says, "I need help getting up." as though there's nothing wrong with what he's doing, as if he wasn't almost dead, as if he isn't supposed to be in bed and injured._ _

__But Luffy doesn't seem shocked at all._ _

__"Ace!" Luffy laughs. He steps past Sabo and gives Ace the hand that he needs, hooking a hand around his waist ("Ow!" Ace yelps.) and ushering him to where he should be._ _

__"Why were you out of bed?" Luffy asks, almost scolding. Ace shoots him a pitiable look, rubbing at his abdomen._ _

__"I heard them saying I'd get visitors, so I figured I'd get out there first, but I guess I was too slow. And-ah! Luffy!"_ _

__Luffy tips his head to the side, leaning down onto Ace's bed and smushing his cheeks against Ace's knees. "Yeah?"_ _

__"I'm sorry. 'Bout the promise. Marineford."_ _

__

__And for the first time Sabo's ever seen, Luffy's eyes go wide in genuine shock._ _

__"You-"_ _

__"After Sabo died," (What the hell, Sabo thinks) "-remember? Luffy, I'm sorry."_ _

__

__"Ace," Luffy says quietly, wonderingly._ _

__"Yeah." Ace says back, softly._ _

__

__Then both their faces whip towards Sabo in tandem, that strangely vulnerable pang in the air gone like it was never there._ _

__"Sabo!" Luffy suddenly shouts, gesturing furiously at him to get closer, "-wear my hat!"_ _

__Ace nods in agreement, slamming his hands down onto the bed to signify where Sabo should sit._ _

__"Ace, Ace! Did you remember because of the hat? Sabo, you have to wear it!"_ _

__Ace guffaws, doubling over and wheezing. (But then he cringes in pain, so Luffy hits him to stop the laughing.) He grabs the hat off his head and pulls it down onto and over Sabo's head, sniggering when Sabo stares back at him, stony.  
"You're last, again!" Ace cackles, but it's more a warm laugh than anything, loose and happy- (was Ace ever like this?)_ _

__Terribly perplexed, Sabo lets himself get led over to them, and he stands next to the bed awkwardly, unsure of what to say._ _

__Luffy tugs Sabo down to meet them face-to-face, and even as he blinks, squeezes his eyes shut and wracks his brain, he can't think of any explanation for anything.  
Luffy is strange, and so are his friends- this Sabo's always known. Ace is, too, now, in on some sort of strange inside joke that he himself might never be able to understand._ _

__But then Luffy loops an arm around his shoulders and brings him close, tucks them both next to where Ace sits and hugs them tight; his mind goes a little blank, and Sabo hears Luffy's heartbeat, hears Ace's heartbeat, and looks at how Ace grins so brightly against Luffy's hair, and_ _

__well, he figures it's fine._ _

__He doesn't need to understand anyways, not when he already has_ this._

**Author's Note:**

> re-upload to this alias which i made and thought was cool last year in seventh grade  
> do i still?? no i am a full year older cant shame me now
> 
> probably missing italics here and there, i copy-pasted from google docs after deleting the original a couple months ago
> 
> I re-uploaded because I was thinking about adding to this, mainly because I do really like reincarnation and such- though looking at how unnecessarily melodramatic (and it's really badly written melodrama, too) my writing is just gets me every single time


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